Kona!

Last night we ended up going to a great Thai restaurant, and the eggplant stir-fry was AMAZING. It was a great meal! I introduced Eric to the movie Stardust, which Jake had already seen (and liked) and Tad wasn’t interested in watching. I forgot how much I like that movie!

Today Jake and I went to Kona with Devin and his girlfriend Christina. It was SO GREAT! The drive takes about 2 hours and we went to Hapuna Beach, which is apparently the best one on the island for waves, and we just splashed around and body surfed for about 4 hours. Everyone got pretty sunburned, especially Jake, but I’m just pink in the face and shoulders (per usual). I took my camera out into the waves to see how it works. It survived with no problems and I can’t wait to take it snorkeling in Hilo where there are less waves and better fish/coral life. Woot!

We could see Maui from the beach – apparently Devin and Christina have only seen it twice from Hawaii because it’s usually too cloudy, so that was really cool (see photo, you may have to enlarge to see Maui in the left portion). The water was so warm that I actually had to get out to cool off after I’d been treading water for awhile. It’s quite a change from California beaches! And it was really windy so the waves shot back out towards the ocean after they broke (see photo below). I tried to capture it on my camera, with limited success, but it was just gorgeous.

We also went to Costco afterwards because there’s one in Kona, and I stocked up on some necessities: a beach towel, Famous Amos cookies, peanut butter, and Babybell cheese. All important for fieldwork lunches, and for being in Hawaii. For dinner, I had a frozen lasagna and I’ve now decided that lasagna is always delicious. If the $1.25 frozen lasagna is both tasty and filling, then it really can’t be screwed up. I also stir-fried some bak choy and am feeling good to go. After putting on some lotion, I think that today was very successful and I am sosososo happy that Devin and Christina let Jake and I tag along! People here are SO nice and giving. It’s really extraordinary and I know I’m so lucky to be here in the first place that it seems unreal how everyone is also so nice. I love the beach!

Tomorrow, we may check out the snorkeling beach in Hilo. Maybe not – Jake was pretty red and he might not be up for it. But if the weather is still clear then I really want to get out there! So more updates later.